The A’s better hope a new fan base awaits them in Vegas. But I don’t want her to give the A’s another chance. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said Thursday she’s open to restarting negotiations with the A’s if they reach out. Now, my sweet memories have turned bitter. Their imminent departure has made me realize that I, too, loved the A’s.īut not anymore. What the A’s have done is effectively spit in the face of the city and people who loved them, who gave them a chance, who were willing to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money so they would stay, who appreciated them even when no one else did. At the time, I hadn’t understood why she was so upset, but I do now. My mother was so infuriated by Zito’s comment that she sent a retort to the local paper, which published it. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies The whole episode reminded me of something former A’s pitcher Barry Zito said after accepting a $126 million contract with the San Francisco Giants in 2006: “The green and gold … it faded faster than I thought.” We loved the A’s unconditionally, but they thought they were too good for us. Yet I found myself deeply and personally afflicted by the A’s callous decision to leave Oakland, to show such little respect for the thousands of fans who lovingly supported them over the years despite their subpar performance and incompetent management and ugly, amenities-lacking stadium. That about summed up my attitude toward hours-long baseball games: They were something to endure, not enjoy. My family has an infamous photo of me and my brother at the Coliseum as little kids: My brother is watching the game, and I’m reading a “Baby-Sitters Club” book. Still, I had always thought that I had done most of these things begrudgingly. Purchase high quality photo prints of the A’s at the Coliseum from The Chronicle Photo Store Oakland Athletics Coliseum: A history of the MLB stadium How do you feel about the Oakland A’s likely leaving for Las Vegas? If the A’s do leave Oakland, can the Coliseum be salvaged? 'Not good partners': Oakland officials shocked by A’s decision to pursue ballpark in Las VegasĪ's departure would mark an unprecedented third strike for Oakland Oakland A’s take big step toward leaving, striking stadium land deal in Las Vegas We watched “Moneyball” over and over, marveling that a movie had been made about our hometown baseball team starring none less than Brad Pitt.Īnd, yes, I still have the hats and balls signed by players whom I once had crushes on, such as Eric Byrnes and Huston Street. We took pictures with Stomper and stood up to sing during the seventh-inning stretch and fervently played the games projected on the stadium marquee between innings: trivia, dot racing, tracking a baseball in the hat shuffle. We sang the Who’s “Real Good Looking Boy,” which always played before the start of a game and which I will always associate with the Coliseum. We would bet on who would hit a home run and whoever predicted correctly would get a slushy. My family and I used to tailgate in the parking lot, roasting hot dogs and eating chips and listening to music. Sure, I had attended countless A’s games growing up - a consequence of being part of a family of diehard A’s fans - taking BART to the Coliseum weekend after weekend, and even traveling to Phoenix to see them play in spring training. I immediately texted my brother and parents a link with a string of angry-face emoji, surprising myself that I cared this much.
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